Weekend Un-Lacquered Reviews: Battle of the Dry Shampoos Round 2

It's time for Round 2 of my Battle of the Dry Shampoos! If you missed Round 1 please check it out here. In Round 1 I discuss my judging criteria and everything you need to know about this whole Battle of the Dry Shampoos process.

Let's get started with Round 2's contenders!

Battle Round 2: 

Pantene Pro-V Original Fresh Dry Shampoo

Dove Refresh+Care Volume Dry Shampoo

got2b rockin' it encore fresh Dry Shampoo

psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo

Pantene Pro-V Original Fresh Dry Shampoo- Price around $5 (drugstores and big box stores)

Scent: The scent of this smells like Pantene Pro-V shampoo. It's a very clean soapy scent. I really like this scent a lot.

Application: This dry shampoo has ZERO white cast at all. In fact, this dry shampoo is completely invisible. I had no application issues with this one.

Effectiveness: This dry shampoo I found to be effective minimally. This barely absorbed any oil in my hair and my hair still looked greasy after application.

Hair Texture: This did not alter my hair texture or make it feel heavy with product. My hair was still greasy after application though.

Pros: I really loved the scent of this dry shampoo. I wish more dry shampoos would go the route of smelling like shampoo rather than other scents. I also liked that it didn't have a white cast.

Cons: Well, it was ineffective. It did not absorb the oil from my hair really at all. My hair still felt and looked greasy after application.

My Rating: 2 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Dove Refresh+Care Volume Dry Shampoo: Price around $5-$6 (drugstore and big box stores)

Scent: This has a sweet and powdery scent. It's definitely a cleaner type scent, but I find it a bit too sweet smelling for my tastes.

Application: This applied easy, but it did have a gray cast when it is first applied.  I did find this brushed out easily though. I also found it was a bit heavy handed.

Effectiveness: This was a bit more effective than the Pantene one, but not by much. This did absorb some oil, but not enough for my hair to not look greasy.

Hair Texture: I felt this was slightly heavy on my hair. It felt like I had some type of product in my hair, but it was minimal. It was noticeably, but not anything off-putting.

Pros: I liked that the gray cast it left on my hair could easily be brushed out.

Cons: The scent, minimal effectiveness, and the way it left my hair feeling were definite minuses for me.

My Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

got2b rockin' it encore fresh Dry Shampoo: Price around $6-$7 (drugstores and big box stores)

Scent: This dry shampoo has a refreshing clean citrus scent. It's uplifting and not overpowering.

Application: This applied easy without any noticeable trouble. This does leave a white cast on the hair, but I found it was easy to brush it out.

Effectiveness: Out of all the dry shampoos I've tried so far this has been the most effective. This absorbed the oil in my hair really quickly and well. My hair looked clean and looked as close to freshly washed as possible with this dry shampoo.

Hair Texture: This did not weigh heavily on my hair or alter the texture of my hair.

Pros: Great scent and very effective. I like how this didn't just absorb the oil, but made my hair look really fresh and clean too.

Cons: The initial white cast on application isn't ideal and maybe more troublesome for people with darker hair color.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo: Price around $6 (drugstores and big box stores)

Scent: This has a very straight forward powdery scent. The scent is neutral and non-offensive. I don't dislike this scent, nor do I like it. It's fine, and would be a nice option for people who don't like scented dry shampoos.

Application: This has as pretty heavy handed application, and boy did this leave a major white cast! I was able to brush it out though.

Effectiveness: This is the OG of dry shampoos, and it is effective. This absorbed oil well and quickly. My hair was grease free.

Hair Texture: This is where this falls short for me. When I touched my roots it felt like I dumped a whole bottle of powder on top of my head. It just has this weird powdery almost grainy feeling to my hair. You couldn't see it, but I felt it. Honestly, it felt pretty gross.

Pros: This dry shampoo is effective at absorbing oil and doing it's job. It has a neutral scent that maybe preferable to some people.

Cons: I couldn't stand how this made my hair feel. It felt like I had a ton of product on it.

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Rank:

1. got2b rockin' it encore fresh Dry Shampoo

2. psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo

3. Dove Refresh+Care Volume Dry Shampoo

4. Pantene Pro-V Original Fresh Dry Shampoo

Sum Up:
This wasn't a good batch of contenders, but there was one winner in the bunch. got2b dry shampoo really impressed me. It's not a brand I'm really familiar with unlike the others which had me worried. This one out ranked them all by a landslide though. psssst! came in second for me, and if it weren't for the way it made my hair feel I would of ranked it higher. I would definitely repurchase got2b's dry shampoo though out of all of them I've tried so far. I'm still holding out hope for one that will out rank that one, so there will be more dry shampoo battles! Stay tuned next month!

Happy Sunday!

Weekend Un-Lacquered Reviews: Battle of the Drugstore Dry Shampoos Round 1

I've been on a mission the past few months to find my HG (holy grail) drugstore dry shampoo. Dry shampoo is an absolute must for me. My hair is the type that gets greasy on the scalp, yet is dry on the ends. I don't want to wash my hair daily and dry out my ends more, but I don't want to walk around with a greasy scalp either. I need a dry shampoo!

I'm not new to dry shampoo, but over the past several years of cycling through many I haven't found a favorite. There are many I haven't tried in years and others I haven't tried at all. I decided to start with a clean slate and try as many as possible over the next few months. I figured I'd share my results with you all while I'm at it.

How It Works:

• Dry shampoo has to be able to found at a major drugstore or big box store.
• Dry shampoo has be under $10
• I will test the dry shampoo in 2 separate uses. I know this may sound like very little, but dry shampoo unlike some other beauty products doesn't seem to improve over time or with more use. 
• I will test/review 4 dry shampoos per post.
• The winner from each testing period will battle it out with other winners in a final post. 

How I'm Reviewing: 

• Scent-What the dry shampoo smells like, and my reaction to the smell.
• Application- My experience with how the dry shampoo applies. Is it easy? Is there a gray cast?Etc.
• Effectiveness- How effective the dry shampoo is upon application and after a full day of wear.
• Hair Texture After Use- How this dry shampoo made my hair feel after I used it. 
• Pros- What I liked about the dry shampoo.
• Cons- What I didn't like about the dry shampoo. 
• Paint Splatter Rating
• Ranking & Sum Up- The end of each post I'll rank them, name my favorite, and sum up my overall experience. .

How I Use Dry Shampoo: 

• When using dry shampoo, I lift the roots of my hair and spray it on my roots. I rub it in my hair and let it sit for 2-3 minutes before brushing out.
• For reference I do have medium-dark brown hair. 

*Please note that these are my own personal experiences and opinions. Some of these I may hate and you may absolutely love or vice versa.  I'm not dictating how you should feel about these products, but rather sharing my experience. 

Let's get started!

Battle Round 1:

 Suave Refresh & Renew Dry Shampoo

Batiste A Hint of Color Medium & Brunette Dry Shampoo

L'Oreal EverStyle Energizing Dry Shampoo

 Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Instant Clean Dry Shampoo

Suave Refresh & Renew- Price around $2.50-$3.00

Scent: This has a strong tropical fruit scent with a slight minty undertone. I'm not a fan of this particular scent, but I know others might like it. To me, this kind of smells like rotting fruit. It has this kind of musty smell to it. It's not horrible or revolting, but not pleasant either. I find this scent really lingers on the hair too. I would catch whiffs of it all day. 

Application: This applies easily, but it leaves a very stark white cast on your hair. This did brush out of my hair easily though. I found it blended in and didn't leave a gray cast. 

Effectiveness: I thought this dry shampoo was very effective. It absorbed the oil, and my hair felt and looked clean after use. I also found that it lasted well throughout the day.

Hair Texture: This made my hair feel a little straw-like and dry. It wasn't bad at all, but it was harder to run my hands through hair at the roots because of this. 

Pros: This dry shampoo was very effective at absorbing the oil and lasting all day. I liked how my hair looked clean and fresh after use. 

Cons: The scent as effective as it was I don't think I can get past it. The was strong scent, not  pleasant, and lingered throughout the day. The way my hair felt after application wasn't horrible, but didn't feel entirely natural either.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Batiste A Hint of Color Medium & Brunette Dry Shampoo- Price $8.99

Scent: This had clean and powdery scent. Powdery scents are not my favorite either, but this was very neutral. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. This is lightly scented and it wasn't overpowering. 

Application: This is a colored dry shampoo. I will say even though it's colored if you do over do it, it does have a dulling effect on your hair color. This comes out as a darker brown color, but did not alter or darker the color of my hair. This applied easily too. 

Effectiveness: I thought at first this was a fail. I did not have instantaneous results with this Batiste dry shampoo. This one took about 10-15 minutes to take effect after application. This absorbed the oil well, and looked very natural in my hair. I did feel at the end of the day my hair wasn't as greasy as when I started, but the effects did wear off a bit. 

Hair Texture: This dry shampoo did not alter the texture of my hair after use at all. My hair still felt like my hair, and I could easy run my hands through it without detecting any product or change. 

Pros: Blended naturally with my hair color, did not alter the texture of my hair, and was effective and absorbed oil for majority of the day. 

Cons: It took a little longer to absorb oil than other dry shampoos, wore off a bit throughout the day, and the scent wasn't a a winner. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Paint Splatters

L'Oreal EverStyle Energizing Dry Shampoo- Price $6-$7

Scent: This dry shampoo had a very pleasant, clean, and fancy salon shampoo scent. This smelled like luxury shampoo. You know the shampoo that is like $30-$50 you can't afford, but smells heavenly. Needless, to say I LOVED this scent of this, and it was my favorite scent of the bunch. 

Application: This applied easy, and with zero white or gray cast. This actually sprayed on completely clear. 

Effectiveness: This is where this disappointingly goes south. I so wanted this to be the "it" dry shampoo. This had the opposite effect as the previous Batiste dry shampoo. Upon application this instantly absorbed the oil. I thought this was a winner, but 20-30 minutes after application my hair looked greasy, and I'd even say greasier than it did before I even applied it. I tried this on more than 2 occasions with the same exact result. 

Hair Texture: I don't feel this initially altered the texture or feel of my hair. It blended in naturally, but like I said before 20-30 minutes later my hair felt greasy again. 

Pros: Spectacular scent and no gray/white cast.

Cons: Everything else that makes a dry shampoo worth it. This was completely ineffective for me. My hair was greasier than it was prior to use. This dry shampoo had zero staying power, and I'm completely bummed about it. 

My Rating: 1 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Instant Clean Dry Shampoo- Price $5-$7

Scent: This has that classic floral and clean Herbal Essences scent. I can't describe it or put it in words really. I love this type of scent though, it's not as great as the L'Oreal dry shampoo scent, but it's good. 

Application: This applies pretty heavily. A lot of product comes out when you spray. This also does leave a slight white/gray cast, but not nearly as strong as the Suave one did.

Effectiveness: This was very effective, almost too effective, which I'll get into next. This sucked all the oil up instantly in my hair and lasted throughout the day. This sucker is strong! My hair definitely looked clean after use. This does say color protection on the bottle. I'm not sure how a dry shampoo can color protect though?

Hair Texture: This is where I found this too effective. This really made my hair feel sticky and dry. I had trouble running my hands through my hair, and overall my hair just didn't feel like my hair. 

Pros: Great scent and extremely effective at lasting oil absorption. 

Cons: Heavy handed in application and left my hair feeling straw-like and unnatural. This maybe due to how heavy this product applied. 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Rank:

1. Batiste A Hint of Color Medium & Brunette Dry Shampoo

2. Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Instant Clean Dry Shampoo

3. Suave Refresh & Renew Dry Shampoo

4. L'Oreal EverStyle Energizing Dry Shampoo

Sum Up: 

The only one here that I really had terrible results with was the L'Oreal one, which was the most disappointing since I loved the scent. I didn't have any real winners here either. I don't feel a strong desire to repurchase any of these unless I really can't find a favorite dry shampoo after all of my tests! I did have the best results with the Batiste with the Herbal Essences coming in a close second. 

I will have Part 2 up in the next 2-3 weeks! I'll be posting a preview of Part 2's contenders on my Instagram in the next few days! 

Happy Saturday!